Sweet Creature
by SnowyPicture
Summary: It's Thorne's birthday and Cress gets him something he's always wanted.


_Sweet Creature_

"Are you sure that's safe, Captain?"

Cress's voice bore a mixture of caution and curiosity, and Thorne felt himself grin as he glanced back at her. The early spring blossoms that hung from the branches above their heads blanketed her in dappled sunlight, and the places where the light hit her hair sparkled particularly yellow.

"Could a guy that played it safe all the time have successfully helped wrangle the galaxy from Levana's cold, evil hands?" Thorne said.

Immediately he could see Cress's imagination kick into action behind her eyes. "Perhaps."

"Okay, this isn't the time for hypotheticals," he said quickly, and turned around again. "But whoever this Mr. Safe guy is, I'm sure he's only decent looking."

"Of course," said Cress, and he could almost hear her nodding behind him. "One of his front tenth is slightly crooked, probably."

Thorne felt himself grin again as he lowered himself into a crouch. Even counting his own numerous perfections, Thorne was certain no person existed that was more perfect than Cress. "The only person with weird teeth allowed on my crew is Wolf, and only because his are kind of cool."

Slowly, Thorne held his hand out. He could feel Cress's presence moving closer behind him, curiosity winning over caution.

The cat, sprawled out luxuriously in the only full spot of sunlight in the little alcove off the sidewalk, watched Thorne's hand draw closer, unblinking. Its tail twitched lazily.

"That's a good kitty," Thorne said, extending his hand slowly until the tips of his fingers felt its orange fur. It was soft and clean; it had to be a housecat let out for the day. As Thorne's hand sunk into its fur, it immediately began to purr.

"See? Nothing to worry about," said Thorne, falling into a sitting position as he began to stroke the cat gently.

Cress crouched down beside him, her hand light on his shoulder. She was gazing at the cat with that certain kind of fascination Thorne loved. It meant she was replacing the image of cat she'd once seen on a netscreen with this very real, living and breathing cat in front of her.

"You can pet her," Thorne said after a moment, letting her observe.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Cress asked.

The impulse to say _because that's how all women respond to my touch_ rose to the tip of Thorne's tongue, but he stopped himself. He didn't want to say those things anymore, not around Cress. Maybe around Cinder.

Instead he said, "Because she's cute and sweet, like you."

It was worth it to see the blush the blossomed over the bridge of her nose. Cress's fingers hovered over the cat's fur, her touch feather-light.

"Don't be shy, she's friendly," Thorne said, rubbing the spot between the cat's ears. As Cress began to stroke her, she purred even louder.

"She's softer than I imagined," Cress said. She looked delighted. Thorne felt something warm growing in his chest. He took his hand from the cat and used it to push a lock of short hair back behind her ear so he could see her face better, sunlight playing on her skin. She didn't look at him, eyes suddenly hyper-focused on the cat, but the blush returned faintly.

They were in a small town in southern Greece, having just finished up distributing the necessary batch of letumosis antidotes. They had been on their way back to the Rampion when Thorne had spotted the cat sunbathing just off the sidewalk.

"You know," he said, absently playing with the ends of Cress's hair, resting his wrist on her shoulder, "I used to have a cat, when I was a kid. Her name was Boots. Well, she wasn't a real cat, she was an android cat, but Iko's really put the whole 'real' thing into perspective since then, hasn't she?" Thorne grinned. "But Boots was an obedient android cat, and my parents wouldn't have allowed anything else. I always wanted a real one."

Cress met his eyes, hand still lightly atop the cat's head.

"A real cat would have been too messy," Thorne heard himself keep saying. "It would have shed all over my parents' precious carpets, or broken some priceless gadget, or scratched the perfect furniture. We would have had to go through the hassle of feeding it real _food._ " Thorne paused, frowning, and then suddenly chuckled. "But it's not like my parents would have cared for it, and I probably wouldn't have done a great job of taking care of it anyway."

"I think it sounds like you would have taken great care of it," said Cress.

Thorne shut his mouth.

He still wasn't used to that, having someone who believed in him without hesitation. Someone who _knew_ him and still believed in him. Believed in him all the more strongly _because_ they knew him.

Cress was an enigma. She was a miracle. She had once been an actual star in his sky and he thanked every celestial body in the universe that Cinder had chosen him to go out and bring her back.

Truly, Thorne knew he would have taken fantastic care of a real cat if he'd been given one. It would have had infinite worth compared to even the fanciest machine his parents could buy, even if it was a thousand times more troublesome.

He leaned over and kissed Cress's cheek. "Thanks, I think so too."

Cress was beaming when he pulled back, and Thorne didn't think he'd ever get over such a look on her face, so glowing and happy and free. His heart turned over in his chest every single time he realized it was because of him.

After a moment, Cress turned back to the cat. "You know, I remember reading that if you pet a cat for too long it can get overstimulated and-"

Before she could finish her thought, quick as a flash, the cat unhinged his jaw and took a snap at her hand. Cress pulled her hand back so violently that Thorne didn't even have time to prepare before she elbowed him, hard, in the stomach.

"Sorry!" she squeaked, covering her mouth with her hands. She leaned over to to grasp at the arm he'd wrapped around his middle. "I'm sorry!"

"It's alright," he said, and cracked half a smile. "I never realized how very pointy your elbows are."

"I was just trying to explain that cats lash out when they're overstimulated from too much petting," Cress said, and she was stroking his arm now, like she had been the cat.

"Thanks for the warning," said Thorne, stomach pain easing enough that he could lean over and kiss her on top of the head.

* * *

Springtime in France, Thorne decided, was the place to be. And it certainly helped that he was surrounded by his very best friends, and they were all busy celebrating _him._

Except Jacin, Thorne thought, suspiciously eyeing the Lunar guard who was a little too preoccupied with whispering something in Winter's ear, something that was making her giggle. Thorne highly doubted they were whispering about him, but he'd never seen the two of them so at ease, so he decided to let it slide. Even if it was a little off-putting to see Jacin so smiley.

"Hey," Thorne said, taking his eyes off of them and glancing around. "Where's Cress?"

Kai, who was closest to him, sitting on the arm of one of Scarlet's big armchairs and eating a chocolate pastry, looked around. "I don't know. Maybe she went to the bathroom."

"Hm," Thorne said, and then he grinned. Kai's chewing slowed, wary, as Thorne threw himself into the seat of the armchair. It was old and worn and so soft he could probably sleep in it for five days straight if he let himself. "So, the emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth got himself a day off just so he could come to a birthday party for little ol' me?" He looked up at Kai and batted his eyelashes.

"You gave up on me, so now you're going after him?" came Cinder's voice from across the small room. Scarlet's house was quaint, and Thorne couldn't help but enjoy how it kept them all in such close quarters.

"My dear Moon Queen," Thorne said, putting his hand over his heart, "I'm offended that you could ever think I'd give up on you."

Cinder rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and he was smiling, and even Kai was smiling, and suddenly Thorne felt a dangerous wave of emotion building up in the base of this throat.

Once upon a time Thorne would have seen Cinder and Kai for their power and possessions, but now he saw them as two busy rulers who'd come all the way from their kingdoms just to spend a day with him. Thorn had always had friends, but he'd never had friends quite like this.

Thorne blinked and looked away. If things got weepy in here, it was going to be because his friends could not behold the beauty of his maturing visage now that he was another year older.

Speaking of which, _where_ was Cress?

Thorne scanned the room. Scarlet and Wolf were also missing.

"She's around here somewhere," said Kai, who Thorne hadn't realized was watching him. Kai nudged him, smirking. "I didn't realize you were so much like Wolf with the separation anxiety thing."

"Wow, okay," said Thorne. "I seem to recall _someone_ once put a price of tens of thousands of univs on Cinder's head and set his entire police force after her when _she_ went missing."

Kai looked unamused.

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Or was it her charming companion?"

Before Kai could respond, Thorne caught sight of a familiar head of blond hair entering the room behind him. He jumped out of his chair.

"Cress!" he said, and when she looked up and saw him walking toward her, her face lit up so brightly he couldn't help but wrap his arms around her and squeeze her against him. "I thought you'd gone missing on the only day of the year that matters."

She laughed against his chest. "I wasn't missing," she said. "Scarlet was just showing me some of the animals in the barn."

"I can see that," Thorne said, picking a piece of hay out of her hair. "What did you see?"

Before Cress could answer, the lights went low, so that only the fading sun cast a pale glow through the window. Scarlet stood in the doorway, Wolf behind her, and she held a cake illuminated with candles.

"In honor of Captain Carswell Thorne," Scarlet began dramatically, before she sucked in a breath and began to sing.

* * *

It was late into the night by the time Cress and Thorne got back to the Rampion, and even though Scarlet's cottage was small and didn't have nearly enough beds to fit them all, Thorne wouldn't have minded camping out on the floor, even if it meant snuggling up to Jacin or Wolf. Cress, however, had been insistent they go back to the Rampion for the night. Thorne was too tired from talking and laughing and attempting to beat Wolf in hand to hand combat to argue anyway (Thorne had been a little too high on sugar when he'd challenged him, and Scarlet had accepted for a wary Wolf).

Thorne kicked off his boots as he walked inside, Cress already skipping in ahead of him with her bare feet. Shoes had not grown on her, and Thorne had a feeling they never would. Thorne could tell that Cress loved the quiet freedom of Scarlet's farm, the long grass and soft dirt beneath the her toes.

He could hear her up ahead in the flight deck. "Captain," she called, "could you come here? I have something for you."

"Oh?" Thorne said, feeling one of his eyebrows rise. "Is it something good? Flashy? Expensive? Is it a sword? Look, I know they're old fashioned but I've always wanted-"

Thorne walked through the door and froze.

Cress stood in the middle of the room, and in her arms was a tiny, fuzzy, spotted kitten.

Thorne's mouth fell open.

Cress was looking at him, teeth chewing on her bottom lip. "Captain?" she said after a moment. Once it became apparent his feet were rooted to the floor, she took a step towards him. "Thorne?"

"I- you- what's this?" he said, blinking from the kitten to Cress's face and back to the kitten.

"A cat," she said, and held it up a bit higher in her arms. It's tiny ears twitched, its eyes large and green and looking curiously up at Thorne. It was covered in fuzzy white fur and dotted with blotchy black spots. "Scarlet had mentioned a few weeks ago that the cat in her barn was going to have kittens, and, well, after we saw that cat in Greece and you told me you'd always wanted a real one, I…well, I thought you might like it." Cress shrugged jerkily, blushing, and looked down at the kitten. "Scarlet was happy to give it to us, and Wolf helped me bring some cat stuff into the Rampion earlier. That's where I was when I disappeared from the party. I wasn't sure if I should have asked you or not, if you wanted a cat inside the Rampion, but I wanted to surprise you and-"

Cress was cut off when Thorne stepped up, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. And kissed her. And _kissed_ her, until they were interrupted by the tiniest of mewls from the kitten between them, still wrapped in Cress's arms.

"So- you like it?" Cress said, pink cheeked and breathless.

" _Cress_ ," he said and pushed his hand tenderly through her hair, tucking the loose strands behind her ear. He pulled back and looked down at the kitten. It blinked up at him. "You got me a cat?"

"Yes," she said, as if she hadn't just explained the whole thing. "He's yours."

Thorne stared at it for a moment, and the kitten stared back, eyes curious. Finally, Thorne tentatively reached out and pet the top of its tiny head with the very tip of his finger. It was the softest thing he'd ever felt. "Did Scarlet tell you it's a boy?"

"Yeah," Cress said. She looked back up at him, lip curving shyly. "But he's also charming and brave, like you."

Thorne was pretty sure _he_ was going to blush. Was already blushing. Still, he said, "Charming? Brave? Wow, for such a little guy he's already got a great reputation."

"He was climbing all over his brothers and sisters," Cress said. "He wasn't shy at all. It reminded me of someone." Her eyes were bright, looking at him. Thorne bit down on his tongue, the contents of his chest rolling every which way beneath his skin.

The kitten really didn't seem shy, staring so openly and curiously at Thorne. Cress held her arms out.

Thorne wasn't sure why he felt so hesitant to take the cat, and it was only when Cress so gently placed him in his arms did Thorne realize that he'd never held anything so fragile before. The kitten was impossibly small.

"He's only four weeks old," Cress said, letting her fingers trail softly down his tiny body. "We'll have to train him, you know, to use his litter box and all that. Scarlet gave me some cat food but we'll have to stock up on more."

"I don't mind," Thorne said. There was something exciting about knowing he'd have to take care of this cat, that this cat would depend on them and play with them and comfort them and probably never listen to them and scratch up all their bedsheets. It would make the Rampion feel even more like a home than it already did.

Thorne grinned.

Cress was staring at the kitten, entranced, her eyes full and sweet as she petted the very tips of his tiny ears. Thorne felt that same overwhelming sensation in his throat that he'd felt earlier with Cinder and Kai, and he swallowed it down, but let himself push closer to Cress.

"Cress," he said, voice slightly rougher than he would have liked. "Thank you."

Cress looked up at him, took in his eyes, and before Thorne had the time to be embarrassed about what she might see there, she hugged him. Mindful of the cat in his arms, she tucked her head into the crook of his arm.

Thorne brushed his lips over the top of her head.

"You're welcome," Cress finally said, voice soft. "Happy birthday, Captain."

* * *

"Captain?"

"Cress?"

"What are you going to name him?" Cress asked. They sat on the floor, Thorne's back against the edge of the pilot's seat and Cress curled halfway in his lap, her head against his chest. The kitten had been taking residence on the other side of his lap, but true to Cress's word, he got adventurous, and they let him go free on the floor to explore.

He'd tired himself out quickly and lay in front of Cress's feet, curled up on her little toes, fast asleep. Cress had giggled, ticklish, until the kitten had settled, and then she looked adorably pleased.

"I don't know," Thorne said. "Thorne Jr.?"

"Captain."

"You're right. Captain Jr.? Junior Captain?"

Cress sighed. "You're not being very creative."

Thorne frowned. Creativity was his middle name. "Well, it's not my fault the only other cat I've ever known was named after footwear."

Cress laughed. "Boots."

Thorne gazed down at the kitten curled up against Cress's feet. "This one doesn't seem to care for shoes. He's like you."

Cress smiled.

Slowly, so did Thorne.

* * *

"He will be the most adorable creature in the sky," said Winter, cooing at the kitten as she held him in her arms with a natural ease, like holding baby animals was something she was born to do.

For once, Thorne had to agree with her.

"Is it my turn?" said Iko, practically vibrating on her feet as she waited to hold him next. Winter smiled and gently handed him over, and Iko nearly melted into the ground as the kitten settled into her arms. "Oh, he's so cute!"

"I can't believe you named him after a body part," said Scarlet, arms crossed, standing beside Thorne. She sounded amused.

"I can't help it if he loves Cress's grubby toes," said Thorne, shrugging.

"Hey," said Cress, who was standing with Cinder and Kai. Reflexively, everyone looked down at her bare feet and she blushed, curling her bare toes into the grass.

"I think they're very sweet toes," said Winter.

"Oh. Thanks," Cress said, blinking.

Thorne snickered, and when Iko reluctantly handed the kitten to a dewy-eyed Kai, he strode over to Cress and put an arm around her shoulders. "Winter's right," he said, pulling her against him and kissing her head. "I love your toes."

Cress harrumphed, practically digging her toes into the ground, and he kissed her again. "And I love you, Cress," he said into her ear, and he felt her soften against him.

The midmorning sun was warm in the sky, everything green and blossoming in the fields, flowers uncurling their petals along the vines that snaked up the walls of Scarlet's house. Everyone had to leave soon.

"Lunch first," said Scarlet. "Come on, Wolf picked a bunch of tomatoes yesterday morning and I'm not letting them go to waste."

"Aw, thanks Farmer Wolf," Thorne said.

"Who beat you in all five rounds of hand to hand last night?" Wolf said like a warning, but he didn't sound annoyed. On the contrary, he sounded rather pleased to be called a farmer. Thorne supposed it made sense after his last few official titles.

"Come on, Toesy," Thorne said, carefully plucking him from the arms of a rather terrified looking Cinder.

"I wasn't sure, with my hand," she said, holding up her cyborg hand.

"You didn't hurt him," said Kai, and reached out to intertwine his fingers through hers. The metal fingers relaxed between his. "I told you it'd be fine. Trust yourself." He kissed her forehead.

"They're sickening, aren't they?" Thorne whispered to Toesy. He meowed in response, his small tail hitting his chest. "Yeah, yeah, sickeningly _sweet,_ I know," Thorne said, rolling his eyes.

"Aw, look at them bonding," Scarlet said as everyone began moving back inside the house.

"Just a little morning gossip," Thorne said, proud to have struck up an obvious comradery with his cat so quickly.

"About what?" said Cinder, raising an eyebrow.

"You and Kai," Thorne said, wagging his eyebrows. "He thinks you guys are cute."

Cinder blinked, and Kai grinned, squeezing her hand. "If she could blush, she'd be blushing."

Cress caught up to him again, shoulder bumping his arm, and Thorne reached down to squeeze her hand as their friends filed back into the house in front and behind them.

Cress smiled and squeezed back.

When they got inside the house, Thorne set little Toesy on the floor and he immediately proceeded to pee on the rug. Everyone groaned, but Thorne couldn't stop grinning as he went to fetch a rag to clean it. He had a feeling that nothing was going to be safe from the little guy, and Thorne couldn't have been happier.

Cress was cradling Toesy in her arms when he walked back into the room, everything sweet and bright.

Thorne's heart warmed in his chest and he kneeled down to clean the floor, whistling. Sure, he could be persuaded into a bit more happiness, if the universe insisted.

* * *

A/N: I just read the short story about Thorne in Stars Above, and in it he briefly mentions always having wanted a real cat, so naturally I had to give him one. Also, I wrote this before I read "Something old, Something New" and didn't know Marissa Meyer had written a Farm Party herself. OOP. But to be fair there was very limited Cresswell in that story, so. Hope you liked this :)


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